Gap In Those Who Do, Do Not Support ACA Is ‘Largest Gallup Has Measured’

DORCHESTER - APRIL 05: Dominique Entzminger, a physician assistant of family medicine, wears a stethoscope during an examination at the Codman Square Health Center April 5, 2006 in Dorchester, Massachusetts. State lawmakers approved a health care reform bill March 4 that would make Massachusetts the first state in the nation to require all its citizens have some form of health insurance. Governor Mitt Romney is scheduled to sign the bill next week. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)File photo of a doctor wearing a stethoscope. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON (CBSDC) – In the past few weeks since its launch, approval for the Affordable Care Act has fallen significantly among Americans.

A recent Gallup poll indicates that only 40 percent of people throughout the United States approve of President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare reform law, known also as Obamacare, compared to 55 percent who do not approve.

“The now 15-percentage-point gap between disapproval and approval is the largest Gallup has measured in the past year,” researchers involved in the survey noted in a release on their findings.

In December of 2012, the amount of people who supported Obamacare actually exceeded the number of those who did not. Since the beginning of this year, however, that switched – and the gap widened as 2013 progressed.

“The timing of this [most recent] drop in approval of the law suggests it may be linked to the controversy over the millions of Americans losing their current health insurance coverage,” Gallup pollsters observed.

However, when asked about their disapproval of the ACA, 37 percent of those who were not in favor of it said that “government interference” and the notion of “forcing people to do things” were their biggest gripes.

Only 11 percent of those against the Act said they had lost their insurance plan.

This morning, Obama addressed mounting concerns regarding both the technical glitches plaguing the online marketplace associated with his signature law, as well as cancellation notices that had been issued to people whose plans did not meet standards put forth by the ACA.

“We fumbled the rollout on this health care law,” Obama told members of the press in a moment of candor.

Yesterday, the White House announced that only 106,185 had officially selected a plan through Healthcare.gov – only 1.5 percent of the 7 million people the administration hopes to enroll.

The survey, in which 1,039 adults throughout the United States took part, was conducted between Nov. 7 and Nov. 10 of this year.